Thank you for inquiring about the services of our firm. Due the complex nature of representation*, we request that you provide us with the information below in order to allow the firm to promptly assess the practicability of offering a consultation or a referral:
*Additional Information
The above information is necessary and will help us to asses any conflict of interest there might be with any of our existing clients.
After a representative of the firm has had ample time to review your information and determine if there is, or is not a conflict of interest, you may be invited to schedule an initial consultation with an attorney. Initial consultations are in the range of $270-$360 for the first hour and billed at the same rate per tenth of the hour thereafter and are by advanced deposit only. If we perceive a conflict of interest, we may provide you with a referral if you so desire.
Our minimum deposit for initiating work is in the range of $1,500-$3,500 plus a fully executed legal services agreement. Typically a provisional patent is estimated between $2,000-$5,500 and may be higher depending on the scope of the invention. A nonprovisional application is typically $5,000-$7,500 and higher. The minimum deposit for a nonprovisional applicant is in the range of $3,500-$5,500. These estimates do not include the filing fees, are based on applications of minimal complexity, and are general estimates only.
*You should expect that electrical and software patents will incur additional expenses as they are of a more complex nature.
Patent searches range anywhere from $1,000–$1,500 and upward depending on what type of search you desire, such as:
1. Utility Patent Novelty Search and Opinion (includes search fees): $2,000-$4,000
2. Validity/ Invalidity Analysis and Opinion (search fees hourly, not included): $6,500-$25,000
3. Infringement/ non-infringement Analysis and Opinion per patent (search fees hourly, not included): $7,000-$15,000
4. Combined Validity and Infringement Analysis and opinion per patent (search fees hourly, not included): $10,000-$30,000
5. Infringement Analysis/ Right-to-Use, Right-to-Operate, Right-to-Make Opinion: $15,000 + (hourly)
Given that each case is individual, the above quotes are estimates only and may be less or more, depending on the scope of the search. This is best determined by a consultation.
Unless covered by a fixed fee under a separate written agreement, services will be billed at the following rates with all billed time rounded to the nearest tenth of an hour and where the minimum time charged for any particular activity will be one tenth of an hour:
Registered Patent Attorneys $200-$360 per hour
Patent and Trademark Paralegals $140 per hour
Please note that the Law Firm has made no promises about the total amount of attorney’s fees, patent agent’s fees, and paralegal’s fees to be incurred by Client. Should you retain our firm, any or all of the above may render their professional services on your behalf.
Information or responses such as contained in this e-mail communication should not be considered legal advice as it is not tailored to your specific circumstances and the firm has not taken you as a client. The firm refrains from representing any party prior to the mutual execution of a legal services agreement. Once you have become a client of the firm (by way of the executed legal services agreement), the firm may send you tailored communications that may include, for prospective inventions, an invention disclosure document for the inventor(s) to complete. Due to national and international patent laws, it is crucial that you be aware of critical deadlines or loss of rights that may arise by actions on your part such as a public disclosure, public use and/or placing the invention at issue on sale in the US. Maintaining records and prototypes of your invention may prove helpful in completing the invention disclosure document and such records, articles and electronic files, if any, should be archived by the inventors as evidence of their developmental effort.
We hope this information has been helpful to you and we look forward to hearing from you.